Who would’ve thought that one of the top style trends of today would be serving up what could be called a “senior moment”?!

Yep. You may have heard of it. I say that tongue firmly planted in slightly sagging, collagen-reduced crepey, jocularly-jowled cheek. Coastal Grandmother style. It’s only been everywhere in the press lately.

Full disclosure: I’m not a grandmother. Hell, I’m not even a mother, except to my tiny chihuahua, Diego, who’s more a daddy’s dog, but I digress. I am, though, a big fan of the Coastal Grandma fashion trend that’s as tasty and cozy as the fresh-baked, warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies that said grandma is, in theory, fond of baking. Count us, the Aging Boldly demographic, IN.

The trend was ironically named by the youthful 26-year old TikTok influencer Lex Nicoleta, who says she coined the phrase Coastal Grandmother after taking a good long look at her own COVID lockdown sartorial style. Bingeing on rom-com movies from the aughts had influenced her style. This young social media maven describes a Coastal Grandmother as loving “Nancy Meyers movies, coastal vibes, recipes and cooking, Ina Garten, cozy interiors, and more….” The term obviously resonates, since the hashtag has gotten 43.2 million uses on the platform so far.

Right in step with how we’ve been attiring ourselves for the past two pandemic anti-fashion years, CG style takes its cues from the pivoting protagonists of Nancy Meyers’ films. Older women (they’re just like us!) having moments of clarity, transformation and GREAT SEX as they maneuver their ways through divorces, career U-turns, younger men’s attentions, newly born grandchildren, and, oh yeah, GREAT SEX. The persona is identified by her flowy, loose, linen-y beach-y looks in white or neutrals, often punctuated by an oversized button-down cotton poplin shirt and a bucket hat. 

Take note, that bucket hat is important here. As are gauzy linens in pull-on drawstring silhouettes, flow-y shirt jacket shape, also known as shackets by the younger generation. Easy peasy, effortless beachy-ness. Looks not limited to lounging, strolling the beach barefoot and bucket hatted, heading to see friends for Sancerre sipping and shopping with a straw market tote in tow. The iconic actresses that best sum up this style trend are Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun, Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give, Meryl Streep in It’s Complicated.

The style encompasses wearing linens, lightweight sweaters or jackets, said bucket hat, sandals, neutrals, flow-y, comfortable and loose. Maybe a maxi dress outfitted with a shrug or cardigan, everything always long and flowy. Pull-on pants, grandpa or grandma sweaters. Wrinkle-free crinkle gauze, soft linen hoodies, stretch pants, straw tote, easy-style white linen button ups which can be worn as a jacket, or as Ina Garten has termed what we in the ‘90s used to refer to as oversized “big shirts,” her “shents” aka shirt tents that top everything from leggings to jeans to, yep, pull-on linen flow-y trousers.

You’ve probably already guessed that you don’t have to be a grandmother to partake in this particular style predilection. I, for one, have been loving this look for a couple of decades, especially during hot summer months, and specifically when I head to the east coast beaches of my youth, long flowy linen elastic waist trousers, coverups and bucket hat in tow. Someone in some article I read within the past week or so termed it “Boho goes to the beach.” And, yeah, I guess that pretty much sums it up. 

But I will add that it seems especially important that with all the attention society, media, even sometimes we as older, aging adult women give to the youth movement and what some of us (ahem, beauty media and unfortunately many beauty companies) term anti-aging products and techniques, it’s so very very refreshing and reaffirming to hear a 26 year old social media savvy TikTokker refer to her own style as Coastal Gran.  

Looks like seniors are starting to get our own – albeit late in life — fashion due.